Some screen grabs from Katmi, AK

At the bottom, left is a salmon heading right toward the bear with his eyes on it.

It always surprises me that the bears don't mind being wet all the time .

Today, for her birthday, Illy decided that both She and Aviv should have a day of fun and learn something exciting.
They had their first lesson of... wave surfing (?)
As you can see, the water was calm and they did quite well.

Aviv was 9y old in May! But I don't think he would be afraid of anything; He is very self-assured.

Terrific photos Bubble and Aviv is blessed to have such an adventurous and innovative mother! I know Illy's birthday had to be fun!

Bubble...
...like mother like son, both look so natural on that surf board...Are you sure that was there first lesson...they both look like pro's...

What a fun person your daughter is, Bubble! Aviv is so lucky to have her and think you have done a fantastic job raising her. That spirit didn't come out of nowhere!

A super Happy Birthday to Illy! (By the way, she looks to be in great shape whatever her age).

    

I agree with Patricia and Shirley..Aviv has one SUPER Mom..

Happy birthday Illy, may you be blessed with many more!

Kyle's Alpine village in the making..
From the left a house.garage, chalet, church and a barn.



Next is the General store and truck..

He's good, those are great! I missed the barn?

Thank you.......it is beside the church. Until he has them all done and in their place they sit side by side on a shelf in the garage/shop.

The one I really like is the store ,will try and send you a better picture..

I scrolled to see the barn.....such fun pieces! Bet Kyle was great with Lincoln Logs when he was a kid! Cas would have enjoyed seeing his work since he loved & spend his life building things. We need to put a link for Lloyd to come see, but I don't know how to make the link.   Kyle better start thinking prices because betcha people will be wanting some for Christmas villages! Put a white sheet under (for snow) & string some Christmas lights around & there you are! Give him a pat on the back (or head), beautiful job, for me! Thanks for taking time to photo & post! Shirley

I've actually been IN a real live Alpine Village and that's it!  He's doing a great job!  I wonder why this is the first we've heard of it?

The bears are getting fat at Katmai's Brook Falls

Cam,   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nprdq03e8yI

Shirley and Jane thank you...I shall pass the compliments on to Kyle aka the Wood Whisper
He just started these this year..then get was busy with trugs.


Patricia, they have a long winter to go through so a nice layer of fat will see them through..

Love the wave surfers, love the Alpine Village, the bears kind of sort of scare me, but I tell myself I'm probably safe if I stay right where I am.

Patricia, I go to the video & then open a new whatever so I can visit in here & listen to the water, seagulls & bear noises. Background music to my ears! I've been surprised how shallow the water is, no fear of drowning if they slip! Yesterday it looked like Mom was trying to teach a kid to fish for itself, figured that was the background whining. Good shots of those salmon!!!

MaryPage, my husband did not like to think of the bears when camping in CO, but we were warned some years to be extra careful. One year with a new Coleman camper (soft side), we pulled in & I stopped to talk to one lady about seeing the bear, she pointed to the big "dumpster" taller than I am with heavy lid, said she looked out to see the head of a bear peeking out... thought "it didn't look that big...AND THEN IT STOOD UP!" I didn't tell Cas what she said, and she also pointed to a camper like ours with a side room tent... or part of one, the bear tore it off. We only stayed at that site one night! We had a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee with the remote to set off the alarm if the bear got close.... didn't need it. Sold that Jeep with only 17,000 miles on it & camper went next, we bought the Rialta & he felt safer with metal sides!

Oh, Shirley!  I would not have slept a wink.  I would have so been out of there and driven all the way home and stayed put there!  No camper, I.  Never have been drawn to such like.  I loved walking in any great outdoorsy place during the day.  Always wanted to do the Appalachian Trail.  Never did.  But the nights do not invite me.  My cozy, comforty bed calls me to cuddle down with a bunch of pillows in total safety from the wild instincts of the various forms of creatures that slink, fly, walk, creep, or in any way know life, have life, but are not human.

I was up early this A.M. to leave for a doctor's appointment.  But there off my bay side balcony rose the morning sun, in a perfectly round ball of bright vermilion.  It looked astonishing, and I hastened to grab my iPad to take some pictures.
 
The ball we call the sun hung there as though young Ava had pasted a paper sticker on the sky between the trees and over the waters of the Chesapeake.  It was rising slowly, and any eye from any vantage point along the Western side of the bay could not fail to be drawn to it.
 
I took picture after picture after picture.  Not one, NOT ONE, showed up with the sun in it. Every one, EVERY ONE was void of that bright star. There in my photos are my balcony railing, the trees, the skies.  The spot where the sun shone forth in all its great glory was vacant of any orb.  It did not exist!
 
Why not?  Do you know?  Does anyone know?

This will delight Shirley and upset MaryPage, but there is a long waiting list to camp overnight in set aside areas patrolled by rangers.  There are day trips where you first fly in via a larger turboprop, (Nine passenger Pilatus PC12 for this leg), then,

"If you are looking for the iconic bear catching jumping salmon then this is the trip for you! The trip begins with a float plane flight to  Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park. Once we land on the lake you will go to the visitor center for a Bear Etiquette film and briefing given by the Rangers at Brooks Camp,  next you hike to the falls and view bears from the safety of platforms built by the National Park Service. The main falls platform is about a 1.5 mile walk from the Visitor Center.

You walk at your own pace here and there are outhouses and other facilities.."
 

Patricia, that sounds like the trip of a life time. I would really enjoy an outing like that.

It might take me 15 minutes to find my sleeping bag but I know where my back pack is.  I'm in! 

We were on a backpacking trip when I was about 16 and one morning our leader said, "If anyone is awake, don't move.  Stay exactly where you are until I tell you to move."  Of course all of us were curious and began asking questions but we knew her well enough not to move.  When she said, "OK, come help me".  We all got out of our sleeping bags and saw she had a giant Copperhead Snake under her snake stick.  Seems it had taken its time and slithered across all 8 of us as we slept!  Luckily, she was up before us and was prepared.  I bet that thing was 10 or 12 feet long!  I didn't sleep well the next 3 nights!

Jane, that must have given you a fright!!

We now have two garter snakes in our garden..Kyle doesn't know this...he is not a fan of snake but they are beneficial to the garden and keeping mice in check.

Snakes aren't indigenous to Alaska so other than lower 48 zoos and one large king snake crossing a Kentucky road, I've never come across one. I'm rather glad about that...

Now you can see that yellow streak down my back! Snakes are not welcome but put a spider on the other side & I'll take on a snake before the spider. I would not enjoy sleeping on the ground unless in a fully zipped up tent. I am 10x more afraid of spiders than a bear. Ohhh ICK!

Must say, Janie, you did have an active scout leader, nothing like the one when I was in grade school. My friends belonged but after joining one meeting I resigned by the end of the day. Seemed all they really did was make scrap books out of magazines and one hike a year to the scout "camp" on the edge of the town. I lived as far out as the camp & thought the scrap books were "busy time". I don't think the leader was an outdoorsy person. I had brothers so knew the boys had a lot more fun.

Amy, we had a super long snake in our back yard one day, it stood up like a cobra when Cas & I took after it. We were afraid it would get little LaurenKat. The neighbor came out to help & explained it was native to KS & not poison... but we were afraid it had escaped from the zoo & wiggled on down river to our yard. We have had nests of copperheads down along the river but haven't seen them for years. We saw LaurenKat carrying a little green yard snake one day, did not know they even caught snakes. Even tho we yelled at her to drop it, she took off & hid so we couldn't take it away from her. The cats keep our mice in check. LaurenKat was a great hunter & would bring one to Cas often. One day we looked out & she was playing with one in the pool area, would let it go & chase it.... when SHE got tired she sat on it! It got out from under her & jumped into the pool. I got the dip-net out & dumped it over the fence. I was NOT her friend. Actually, she would walk down the hall toward the bedroom & if I happened to be behind her she'd turn around & hiss at me!  She thought that other end of the hall with the master bedroom suite was just for Cas & her. Sadly, after she found him in his bed dead, she never went back there again... and she lived 2 or 3 more years. Well, that brought on memories!

Bubble, I finally had my calendar handy & compared my gr-grandson's birthday with Aviv... Jace was 11 the 14th of July. I have a feeling Aviv could teach Jace a few things about being daring!

Shirley ,I agree with you on the spiders!! One time I came flying out of the shower soap bubble flying calling for Kyle. He thought the world was on fire the way I carried on but told him I refuse to share my shower with a SPIDER!! I wasn't too happy when he came out laughing and said it was teeny tiny....that THING was a monster!  I will pick up snakes and remove them from harms way but mercy....spiders give me the heeby jeepies.
I laugh when people will pick up a small snake thinking because it is small no harm will come but they are most vicious at that size. Bigger ones are more docile .

Our spiders are small except for a couple about the size of the tip of my thumb. We have two outside poisonous ones, but they rarely bother people and sometimes hide in basements or garages. They are the brown recluse and black widows.

I remembered years ago,  one girl who did the crazy dance at the simple mention of bees and another who fainted when someone said there was a spider on her back.

Oh, Amy, that reminds me of when we lived in England & signed a year lease on a house without noticing that the bathroom didn't have the commode, just tub & wash basin. The water was heated both by teakettles hauled upstairs & or by opening a sliding panel inside the fireplace off the kitchen, to heat pipes that held the water for the bathroom. My very first bath (had been doing "spit baths") a spider dropped in & I started screaming for Cas. To this day the memory raised "goose bumps" on my arms. My worst nightmare & Cas thought it was funny! I do not recall taking other baths in that tub, probably used only cold water, but for sure was never at ease, ever again! OOPS... just realized we are in Photos & not over in the Soda Shoppe....

Patricia, I stepped on a Black Widow yesterday that rolled out with the pool vac hose.  Have not see the brown recluse at this house but had that one bite when we lived in KC area. My youngest son had lots of the brown recluse in his house & used those glue type traps.  So far nobody had been bitten by them.